Help needed understanding.....

[SoCalMike5657]

Hey there brothers and sisters if the fishing community. So I'll try to keep this short and right to the point. I am trying to understand why we use some gear and tackle that we use. Here is what I'm talking about lets say a size 30 conventional reel with 20lb of drag what I want to know is why do ppl put like 65lb braid instead of like 30lb braid seeing how the reel only has 20lb of drag, and are targeting yellows and such, You guys see where I'm going with this?

Here's another one. Let's say we are targeting big tuna. The gear being used is lets say an 9/0 reel with 40lbs of drag. So why do ppl use like 100 +lbs of line when the max drag is only 40lbs does this mean one could use like 65lbs braid with a leader and be able to land 500+lbs tuna????

I guess pretty much what I'm trying to understand is why put such heavy lbs braid on a reel that only has like 20lbs of drag if 30lbd braid would not brake at max drag seeing how it's only 20lbs. Also what makes a reel capable of landing massive fish obviously besides how much line the reel can hold. Any help with this would be great.

Thanks all

Mike
Strength In Knots

[vanillagurilla]

Because even with braid you still use a short floro or mono leader, all the stretch that the braid doesn't have gets transferred to that short leader. Generally you set your drag to 1/3rd the line rating. If you have a reel that pulls 20lbs of drag go out side and tie it to something and see if you can pull hard enough to pull any drag at all. Also drag ratings are done with a full spool, that 20lbs with a full spool might be 25-28 with a half of spool.

[twin22s]

also that drag rating doesn't account for any friction from the rod being bent, line rubbing the guides, or shock from sudden hook sets or excessive head shake. On paper what you say makes sense but the reality is there are a lot of other factors going into how much pressure is on the line. most anglers wouldn't mind a little bit of insurance when in comes to line strength also. If you are not trying to test your skills with light tackle use the heaviest line you can get away with.

[midgettosser1]

Couple more things to think about....

Using the Saltist 30 capacity as an example:
Line Capacity - Braid: 380 yds./40 lb., 280 yds./50 lb.

1) 280 yards of 50lb, or 380 yards of 40lb are going to most likely be more than most people need. So putting 30lb braid on could potentially get you another 100 yards of line. Probably going to be overkill. Personally, I wouldnt put 65lb braid on a 30 size reel, cuz I prefer to have more like capacity, and using oversize braid on smaller reels can make the braid feel kind of "wirey." I have a Penn Torque 100 that I put some spare 65lb braid on it, and didnt like it at all, so I dropped it down to 50lb braid and it just felt better. I tend to put the 65lb on my 40 size reels, and thats always been more than enough.

2) Knot tying. As was mentioned, you're going to be tying on a leader or topshot of fluoro or mono line. You're most likely not going to be fishing your reel at the breaking strength of your braid. You're going to be fishing it at the breaking strength of your leader/topshot. Having the braid as backing allows you to easily swap out leaders/topshots to match whatever conditions you are fishing. So you can throw on lighter, or heavier mono/fluoro without having to empty your entire spool.

Here's a chart for power pro's braid to mono diameter comparison:

Mono (lb)/Braid (lb) diameter equivalent
8 / 1
10 / 2
15 / 4
20 / 6
30 / 8
40 / 10
50 / 12
65 / 16
80 / 18
100 / 20
150 / 30
200 / 50
250 / 80

I typically try and match the braid to a mono or fluoro that is at least somewhat equivalent for better/easier knots.
For example, I would use 65lb braid and 30lb mono. I wouldnt want to tie 30lb braid (8lb mono equivalent) to 30lb mono line.